Alerts

T+T-

JK Paper invites FDs

JK Paper Ltd, one of India’s largest paper companies, has invited fixed deposits from the public which will be categorised as ‘unsecured’. It has two schemes — Scheme A (Non- Cumulative) and scheme B (Cumulative). Both schemes provide interest of 8 per cent, 8.25 per cent, 8.50 per cent pa for one, two and three years, respectively, and the interest is payable quarterly. An additional 0.5 per cent interest will be provided in case of senior citizens (above 60 years), employees and shareholders. The scheme is open from September 13, 2017. However the deposit is rated lower by India Ratings at “IND tA-/Positive”. This rating implies adequate capacity for the timely payment of financial commitments relative to other issuers and such capacity is more susceptible to near-term adverse changes.

DA & gratuity limit

The Cabinet has approved release of additional 1 per cent dearness allowance (DA) to Central government employees and dearness relief (DR) to pensioners. The existing rate of 4 per cent now becomes 5 per cent of basic pay/pension and is applicable from July 1, 2017. It is expected to benefit about 50 lakh government employees and 61 lakh pensioners.

The Cabinet has also approved the introduction of the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in Parliament. Considering inflation and wage increase, the proposed amendment seeks to increase the maximum limit of gratuity of employees, in the private sector, public sector undertakings and autonomous organisations. The Bill, if passed, will double the tax free gratuity ceiling to ₹20 lakh, bringing private employees at par with Central government employees.

Increased cess on cars

High-end cars have gotten pricier thanks to the GST Council hiking cess on cars, on September 9. Small and hybrid varieties have been spared. The increased cess rates are 2 per cent for mid-sized, 5 per cent for large and 7 per cent for sports utility vehicles(SUV), which include cars with length exceeding 4000mm and having a ground clearance of 170mm and above. The effective new tax rates are 45 per cent, 48 per cent and 50 per cent for mid, large and SUVs, respectively. Following this, car manufacturers Toyota and Honda Cars India have raised prices across their range of models.

RuPay-powered digital debit card by Paytm

For customers holding accounts in Paytm Payments Bank (PPB), the soon to be launched RuPay-powered digital debit card brings good tidings. The debit card, which will be issued to all existing account holders, will make purchases — both online and at merchant outlets — simpler. The debit card comes with a free insurance cover of up to ₹2 lakh in the case of death or permanent total disability. Existing Paytm users need to complete a KYC process to become an account holder with PPB. Saving accounts with Paytm banks do not require a minimum balance.

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